Dougga / Thugga

Dougga, after its ancient name Thugga, lies at 100 kilometres away from Tunis, the capital. Its relics of ancient times reflect a history marked by Numidian and Roman civilisations.
Being one of the most important cities in the kingdom of Massinissa, Thugga became a Roman dependency around 46 B.C., after the creation of the province of Africa nova by Caesar. From that date up to 205 A.D. when Thugga was promoted free city -municipium-, it had two centres, an ancient Numidian one, and a recent Roman one. Later, completely Romanised, the city enjoyed an apex and erected monuments worthy of its colony rank, a status acquired in 261. Afterwards, although little affected by crises, Thugga ended by having hardships before it was fortified by the Byzantines, and gradually lost its former brightness.
Dougga is nowadays one of the brightest jewels of the Tunisian heritage. Among the many monuments that may be visited there are :
° The thermal baths called 'liciniens' were built under the reign of the emperor Gallian, in mid-third century A.D.
° The theatre which housed 3000 to 3500 spectators
° The Capitol, the best preserved among the Roman temples of North Africa; is dedicated to the triad Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva. Moreover, Thugga numbers many more cult buildings dedicated to other divinities such as Mercury, Juno, Caelestis, Saturn, Concordia, Frugifer, Liber Pater, etc.
° The Libyco-Punic Mausoleum. This 21 metre-high monument, containing many floors in tiers with a small pyramid at the top, was built in 200 B.C. in order to receive the corpse of some prince called Ataban. This beautiful monument, with its decorative colonnades and bas-reliefs, and without the bilingual epitaph that made the deciphering of the Libyc script possible, is a real masterpiece of the architecture of that period.